Posts Tagged ‘Center City’

The United States government may be pursuing an isolationist policy but the Philadelphia Fringe is doing the opposite: opening its doors not only to the most creative American performers and performances but also to the best and most creative theater artists and their productions from around the world—overcoming the ancient fear of the symbolic Tower of Babel with people not understanding each other.

To show the worldwide scope of the 22nd Philadelphia Fringe Festival, we offer this spotlight on performers from abroad and productions by American artists that present a global perspective.

Theater writer Henrik Eger, editor of Drama Around the Globe and contributor to Phindie and Broad Street Review, among other publications, has lived in six countries on three continents and has visited Africa and Australia as well. He bids everyone a hearty WELCOME to the City of Brotherly Love—this year in 18 different languages: Arabic, Celtic, Chinese, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Latin, Polish, Romanian, and Spanish.

We start this year’s overview with a special welcome to two programs featuring a wide range of global creators:

INTERNATIONAL CREATIVES

Bienvenue & welcome to Montreal-based choreographer Sylvain Émard and Le Super Grand Continental. Le Grand Continental wowed audiences during its run at the 2012 Fringe Festival and has garnered enthusiastic response across the world. Fully realizing a blissful marriage between the pure delight of line dancing and the fluidity and expressiveness of contemporary dance, the celebratory event enlists hundreds of local people to perform its synchronized choreography in large-scale public performances. The world’s most infectious performance event returns to the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in an even larger spectacle of dance.

Bonvenon, willkommen, bienvenido, witamy, bienvenue & welcome to Do You Want A Cookie? from The Bearded Ladies Cabaret—a world premiere with an international cast. Do You Want A Cookie? serves up a delicious romp through cabaret history, with an international cast of artists performing a live revue of cabaret from the Chat Noir to Weimar nightlife to 21st-century drag. The all-star cast comes draws from around the world, including Bridge Markland (Berlin), Malgorzata Kasprzycka (Paris/Warsaw), Dieter Rita Scholl (Berlin), and Tareke Ortiz (Mexico City).

وسهلااهلا (ahlaan wasahlan) & bienvenu. Welcome to Tania El Khoury who lives in Lebanon and the UK with her multifaceted program ear-whispered. Little is known about Palestinian refugee camps and their communities. El Khoury presents her Fringe work in five parts through interactive performances and installations at Bryn Mawr College:

Bienvenido & welcome to the bilingual (Spanish & English) cast ofLa Fábrica performing Gustave Ott’s Passport. Lost in a foreign country, Eugenia is detained and thrown into a vicious maelstrom of miscommunication. This poetic and immersive Kafkaesque thriller delves into the question of immigration—exposing the mechanics of language and power. Some performances will be presented in English, some in Spanish, and some will be decided at the toss of a coin.

“Anomie was born at age twenty on an operating table. Surgical experiments saved her life but left her disabled like a titanium lollipop.”

Anomie is a musician. Outside of creating music, she models for “Sick and Sexy,” her self-created group for alternative models with disabilities. Anomie has undergone several surgeries. She is an artist who has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic defect in connective tissue, which impacts joints, skin, and muscles. After a series of medical issues in 2008, she was forced to discard her life as a biochemistry college student in exchange for a new identity. The physical complications that occurred as a result of EDS have not only left her physically disabled, but have also stranded her on the outskirts of society. “My bones are titanium from the neck up, and I’ve been an electric wheelchair user for almost three years now. I refer to it as ‘my mecha-body,’ although I would prefer a robotic exoskeleton because sitting still for long periods of time really sucks,” Anomie says.

Anomie is taking her music and story to the 2015 Fringe Festival in a show, called Musician, Model & Medical Experiement. During her performance, which takes place at Agno Grill on September 6, 10, and 16, Anomie shares her story and reclaims her identity through song and burlesque. “The songs are about all sorts of things, evil doctors, bad boyfriends, bad girlfriends, vampires, and living in public housing in the projects. I will be doing at least one burlesque act per show. Because of my restricted mobility I cannot dance for burlesque, so I sing and use props instead,” she says. Her songs consist of guitar and digital back tracks. Some of her pieces are collaborative works, while others are solo creations. While Anomie’s music captures her own story, she references the larger disabled community. “I’d like to tell a story more than just singing and performing. The story is my personal experience, but the show is as much about me as it is about all of those who go through these challenges.”

Anomie refers to her community as “the underworld.” She uses this term because disabled people are locked out of society, prevented from participating in mainstream culture, by those in power who fail to include people with chronic medical conditions. Her songs make visible a group of people society tends to ignore. “I refer to ‘crip’ society as ‘the underworld’ a lot because of the way we have to live with chronic medical conditions. I am unable to work a standard job, live an average full life, get married, have a family, and feel like a part of regular society. This is not because of I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome really. This is mostly because the system we live in does not allow disabled people to do that,” she says. Our city is inaccessible. The larger structure of our society allows disabled people to be disregarded. When the disabled community is not swept underneath the societal rug, they are noticed specifically for their difference through events that highlight their disability, like Special Olympics and non-profit fundraisers. Anomie is either erased from society or put underneath a microscope like a unrecognizable object. “I’ve had done experimental treatments for the neurological problems associated with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Arnold Chiari Malformation and Tethered Spinal Cord. My cranio-cervical fusion surgery was recorded and used for teaching purposes at the Harvey Cushing Institute of Neuroscience.

When asked if she had a fetish, Anomie responded “No, but there are fetishes for people like me.” She explained one called ‘devotee’ in which a person sexualizes care-taking of a disabled person. The other she explained was called ‘Agalmatophilia’ which is the fetishization of a statue, or in her case a person who is fixed solid with fusion implants.

“Disability is the ultimate counterculture.” After struggling to participate in society, Anomie realized that she would always be excluded. Instead of trying to return to college for the third time, she is developing an identity that works for her. As she sings, she claims agency and strength, despite living in a world that denies her power. “I picked the name Anomie for myself, because that’s exactly what the word means: disconnected, rebel. But I’m not disconnected really, there’s a whole community of people living in this ‘underworld’ finding ways to make what we’re given with work.”